Kakopathar To Big Screen: NE Actor Suneet Bora's Inspiring Journey in Hindi Film Industry

While NSD was welcoming, Suneet learnt after landing in Mumbai in 2016 how difficult it was for people coming from the Northeast to fit into the Hindi film industry because it predominantly makes films on North Indian content, and their looks don’t fit the casting requirements.

The Hindi film industry has been a dream for many, but the journey can be a challenging one, especially for people from Northeast India. The story was no different for Suneet Kumar Bora, the actor, singer, and music producer from Assam who is now a known face. The ‘Forensic’ actor, who went to Mumbai in 2016, says he was rejected many times but people are more aware now and the industry is more accepting of diversity than before. 

“The Indian film industry makes films on North Indian content,” Suneet said, adding that he was called ‘unfit’ for certain roles, which led to frustration, but he learnt that the content was such that he did not fit into such roles.

However, the National School of Drama (NSD) graduate did not give up, and work started to come his way. While he had already worked on Assamese projects, Suneet landed commercials for brands like Hyundai while in Mumbai, and also played a small part in the Netflix web series ‘She’. Later, he bagged ‘Bose: Dead/Alive’ for AltBalaji. During the Covid-19 pandemic, he got to play a role in Zee5’s ‘Forensic’, which kicked off his journey in the mainstream.

Life In Assam

Growing up in the small town of Kakopathar, he watched mobile theatres that had a huge impact on the people of Assam. He was particularly amazed by the way the audience reacted to the performances, and he was drawn to the art. 

Suneet started doing solo performances in school, directing and acting in his first play titled ‘Manab xeva’ when he was just in Class VIII. Coming from a family of musicians, he was a good singer too.

Suneet’s dream of becoming an actor began at university when he attended a workshop conducted by the NSD in his hometown in 2006. He followed his guru Bidyawati Phukan, who had arranged the workshop, and performed a play called ‘Guti Fulor Gamusa’ across the country. His parents were not very keen on him becoming an actor as they preferred a stable career. However, he decided to leave home to pursue his dream, and stopped taking monetary support from his parents. 

Speaking to ABP Live, he said this was a low point in his life when he would collect carton boxes from stores and sell them for a living.

After his parents saw his dedication, his father took him back home and agreed to support his acting career on the condition that they would not be able to financially back him up. This was 2008. Suneet applied to NSD but got eliminated. He prepared for another year and trained under his mentor. Celebrated actor from Assam, Adil Hussain, wrote him a reference letter, and this time he got selected for the NSD.

"Thousands of aspirants apply to NSD every year, but only 27 get selected. We would eat, breathe, sleep, and live theatre. The kind of diversity we are exposed to here is amazing," said Suneet, reminiscing his NSD days.

According to him, training is important to become an actor.

"As an actor, it is very important to be trained, just like in any other field, be it engineering, medicine, or education. It teaches you what you apply in the practical world," he said. "The academic curriculum — theory and practical — gives one immense exposure. We got to work with Robin Das, Anuradha Kapur, Abhilash Pillai," added Suneet, who believes he would never have gotten the opportunity to work with them had it not been for the NSD.

Suneet graduated from the NSD in 2014, and worked on his first project on camera, a short film on racism. “At that time, a guy called Nido Taniam was murdered in Delhi due to racism. The Arunachal government had then made an awareness-generating film where I played the protagonist,” he said.

Suneet then worked on two Assamese projects, ‘Bahniman’ and ‘Local KungFu-II,’ which were big hits in Assam. 

Struggle In Mumbai, And Success

While NSD was welcoming, Suneet learnt after landing in Mumbai in 2016 how difficult it was for people coming from Northeast to fit into the Hindi film industry because it predominantly makes films on North Indian content, and their looks don’t fit the casting requirements.

Speaking to ABP Live, the actor said he was frustrated after he was called “unfit” and denied roles.

"It is difficult for people coming from the Northeast. The Indian film industry makes films on North Indian content. (but) now people have started showing Northeast characters. Our looks do not make us fit into a typical North Indian family,” said Suneet, who believes he can pass off as a ‘pahadi’ but many people with Mongoloid features have generally trouble finding roles that fit their appearance. Northeast actors usually get roles if filmmakers look for people to play a Chinese, Japanese, or Nepalese character.

"A lot of Northeasterners are now doing well in Bollywood. I played the role of a character from Mussoorie in ‘Forensic’. People are definitely more aware today, and we do find Northeastern characters in films, unlike in the past,” said Suneet, who said he hoped the Hindi film industry will be more open to diversity in the future.

Suneet has a big role in the upcoming Assamese film, ‘Yoddha’, in which he plays the antagonist. The film is likely to be released in a month or two. He is also working on another Netflix project, ‘Afghani Snow’, with Clean Slate Productions.